


Drunken Confessions from the Strongest Man

by Steph_Rob94



Series: Milk [1]
Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Brief appearance from Tom Tanaka, F/M, slightly AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-08
Updated: 2013-12-08
Packaged: 2018-01-03 23:45:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1074463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steph_Rob94/pseuds/Steph_Rob94
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shizuo Heiwajima had been a regular at the deli on the corner. Anri Sonohara had recently started working there. At first, the twenty-two year old woman is confused as to why the bartender won't look at her. It isn't until one night before closing that she finds out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drunken Confessions from the Strongest Man

**Author's Note:**

> If you had not noticed in the summary, Anri is twenty-two instead of fifteen. Shizuo is still the same age as in the beginning of the anime.
> 
> Disclaimer: This amazing anime/manga series does not belong to me. It belongs to Ryohgo Narita.

Anri Sonohara stood calmly in the shop that she had recently been employed at stocking the refrigerator shelves with milk glasses. A man in a bartender’s outfit would always come in every morning and buy a glass before he left for work. That man she now knew to be Shizuo Heiwajima, the strongest man in all of Ikebukuro. She did not find it hard to believe that statement because she doubted his strength, but because of his gentle and polite behavior each time he entered the shop. He seemed so shy. He never looked her in the eye, but always found something else to stare at. The twenty-two year old tried not to let it bother her. She knew that she was nothing to look at really.

               “Yo,” she heard a familiar drawl. She put the last glass on the shelf and dried her slightly damp hands off on her apron as she turned.

               “Hello, Heiwajima-san,” she said. It was then that she noticed he was wobbling slightly. The bow tie around his neck had been pulled loose. It looked as though he had had an extremely rough day. It was when he stepped closer however that she smelt it on his breath. It was the slight smell of whiskey. For a moment, she froze.

               “I’m sorry,” Shizuo apologized. His words slurred only slightly. “I’m so sorry.” Anri tilted her head. Usually the men in her life apologized after they had done something wrong, not before. So, she decided to test her already precarious luck.

               “What are you sorry for, Shizuo-san?” She asked, stepping forward. Something about the wounded look in the man’s coffee brown eyes made her want to comfort him. He ran a hand through his blonde hair.

               “I…couldn’t protect you,” Anri blinked at the confession. His hand clenched into a fist. Anri stepped back. “I…I only made it worse.”

               “I can’t imagine you ever making anything worse,” Anri told him truthfully. From what she had seen, he had a habit of making everyone feel better when he wasn’t throwing people through the air. Her fear of violent men had never lessened, but for some reason she made an exception for Shizuo Heiwajima. Maybe it was because he could stop himself or the fact that the only fought when provoked in some way.

               Shizuo snorted at her comment and stumbled closer. She had no idea who he was seeing when he looked at her, but she could sense what he was looking for: forgiveness. He sank down onto one of the wooden crates she had been using as a stool.

               “…you got trapped underneath that door…” Shizuo muttered. “Your arm was broken. I saw it.”

               “You shouldn’t beat yourself up over this,” Anri told him. Her hands twisted nervously around the hem of her apron. Comforting people, her best friends always joked, was not her strong point. She was too shy. That shyness was rearing its head. She swallowed. “And I’m sure whoever you see when you look at me wouldn’t want you to either. No matter what happened,” Anri said.

               Shizuo snorted. His head bonked back against the glass, but it didn’t hurt it. Exhaustion weighed heavily on him. He had been beating himself up with this for years, Anri realized. She stepped forward and decided to be a little more forward than she should. She placed her hand on his head and ran her fingers through his hair. She was more than a little surprised to feel how soft it was. After the years of dying he had no doubt put his hair through, she had thought it would be coarse and rough. His eyes drooped.

               “It’s okay, Shizuo-san. Just relax. I’ll call Tom-san to come get you,” she stepped away from him reluctantly. As she pulled her cell phone out of the pocket of her apron, she glanced up at him frequently. If he left this shop as drunk as he was, he would be in danger. Shizuo Heiwajima had a very dangerous, persuasive enemy after all. She searched her contacts for the number. She had been completely bewildered when the brown headed man had given her his number. Now, however, it made some sense. Tom Tanaka knew this would happen one day. “Tom-san? Hi, this is Anri Sonohara. I work at the small deli on the corner of…” She paused as he finished her sentence. Anri blinked. “Yes, well, Shizuo Heiwajima-san is here.” She paused again as the man began firing out a rapid line of questions. “Yes, he’s fine. A little drunk, but he’s okay. Do you think you could come get him? I would offer to do so myself, but I have no idea where he lives.” She paused. “Alright, I’ll see you soon.” As she closed her cell, she turned back to the man that still sat on the crate. His body was slumped slightly.

               _‘At least now I know why he wouldn’t look at me before,’_ she thought as she turned and cleaned the unoccupied crates from the walk way. She would move them out in the alley tomorrow when she didn’t have an unconscious man slumped against the cool glass of her refrigerator. She noticed with slight amusement that it was the same refrigerator he stopped at every morning.

               Anri turned as a door slammed outside. Tom Tanaka was exiting the taxi that brought him. She watched as he turned and told the man to wait. Anri smiled reassuringly as he opened the door. The bell dinged happily.

               “Tom-san,” she greeted. Tom blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his neck.

               “How many times have I told you to just call me Tom?” He grumbled as he stepped toward his best friend. In truth, Tom knew that one day Shizuo would snap and come to Anri Sonohara. She looked too much like the woman from the blonde’s past. That woman’s face had haunted Shizuo for years. He glanced up at the woman that stood just off to the corner. “Did he scare you?”

               “I thought he was hurt when he first came in,” Anri admitted. “But no, he didn’t scare me. I know he wouldn’t hurt me on purpose.” She ignored the negative voice in her head that said her mother had probably said the same thing about her husband. Shizuo Heiwajima was not her father and she most definitely was not her mother. Tom smiled at her as he pulled one of Shizuo’s arms over one shoulder and lifted the man up. He grunted underneath his friend’s weight.

               “Come on, buddy, I’m gonna need your help here,” Tom grumbled. Anri giggled softly at the statement. Tom blushed and glanced back up at her. “Thank you, Anri-san, for staying with him.” Anri smiled.

               “It was no trouble,” she answered. A small blush tinted her cheeks. Tom stepped toward the door. “And Tom-san?” He turned to her. “I’ll start dropping the suffix from your name if you return the favor.” She told him. Her blush heightened at her forwardness. Tom smiled.

               “Good bye, _Anri,_ ” he stressed. “I’ll probably be seeing you tomorrow.” Anri blushed darker at the mention of tomorrow. She hadn’t thought about it until now, but she would have to see Shizuo again tomorrow. Oh, how awkward! Tom laughed as the bell signaled his leaving.      


End file.
